Pencil-sharpener.



-PATENTED JAN. 13, 1903. R. G. UECKE.

PENCIL 'SHARPENER APPLIUATION'PILED MAR. a, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

Bow a ma@ f MVM ad fw@ Tu: News Fsrsnso., pHoro-nwo., WASHINGTON, n. c.

Nirnn STATES .ar-ENT OFFICE.

ROBERT O. UEOKE, OF HARVARD, ILLINOIS.

PENCIL-smentita.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.'71`8,548, dated January13, 1903.

Application filed March 3, 1902. Serial No.'96,389. (No model.) Y

T0 all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT O. UECKE', of Harvard, in the county ofMcHenry and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Pencil-Sharpeners; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of referencemarked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in pencil-Sharpeners of thatclass embracing an annular part provided with an abrasive surfaceadapted to act on the pencil either through the rotation of said annularpart or by the movement of the pencil around the annular part, i wherebyboth the wooden sheath and the lead or core of the pencil aresimultaneously cut or Worn away to give conical form to thepencil-point.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth, and moreparticularly pointed ont in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure lis a top plan view, partially in section, of apencil-Sharpener embodying the improvements constituting my invention,the same having a rotative annular abrasive shell and a stationarypencilholder. Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is atransverse section of the principal parts lof a form of the Sharpenerhaving an annular abrasive shell of cylindric form. Fig. et is a planview, partially broken away, of the form .of the Sharpener shown in Fig.3. Fig. 5 is a sectional View of a Sharpener embracing a stationaryannular abrasive shell and a rotative pencil-holder.

As shown in the drawings, Figs. l and 2, A designates an annularsheet-metal shell,which is perforated and provided on one of itssurfaces with abrasive prongs or burs a, formed by bending or punchingoutwardly the metal around the perforations. The abrasive surface may beformed on either the inner or outer surface of the sheet-metal shell;but as shown in Figs. l and 2 it is formed on the inside of the same.Said shell A is made of thin sheet metal and is supported from outwardflexure by means of an annular concentric wall B, which surrounds andengages said shell. Said annular Wall B is formed integral with an endwall B', the Whole constituting, in e1`1ect,a cup-shaped support whichcontains lthe annular sheet-metal shell A. The position of the shell andsupport may be reversed-that is to say, the support may be locatedwithin the abrasive shell-as will hereinafter more fully appear.Ashellprovided with an abrasive surface made as described may bearranged to act on the pencil either by giving rotative movement to theshell and holding the pencil against it or by attaching the shell to astationary support and moving the pencil around the same. In theconstruction shown in Figs. l and 2 the shell and its annular supportare adapted to rotate, and the same are supported and operated asfollows: To the inner face of said end wall of the cupshaped support isattached a concentric hub Breand extending through said hub and affixed'non-rotatively therein is a shaft C, which is journaled at its ends in'upright standards D D, attached at their bases to a base-'plate D'.Said shaft is provided at one end with a crank C', by which the shaftand parts carried thereby may be rotated.

The prongs or burs constituting the abrasive surface of the shell A aremade relatively short and are provided with sharp angular edges, whichare so located with respect to each other as to produce a smooth cut onthe pencil. A convenient manner of forming said prongs or burs is topunch the sheet metal of the shell outwardly therefrom to form three ormore prongs around each perforation formed by the punch, whereby anumber of prongs or burs are arranged in groups around each perforation.Preferably the annular sheet-metal shell and the support B therefor aremade inwardly tapering, whereby the pencil may be inserted into theshell parallel with the axis .thereof and its end presented at an angletothe abrasive surface of said shell. As shown in Figs. l, 2, and 5,said shell and support have the form of the frustum of a cone.

The annular wall or support B, as shown in the drawings, is constructedto provide between the same and the perforated shell a clearance spaceor spaces, which permit the escape of chips and dust from the pencilthat may pass through the perforations in the IOO shell A. Suchclearance space or spaces may be made in a variety of ways. As shown inFigs. l and 2, the annular Wall B is provided With an interior spiralgroove ZJ, which extends from one end to the other of the shell A. Whensaid support is formed of sheet metal, as is herein shown, said Wallwill be corrugated to produce said spiral groove. The corrugated form ofthe support is of advantage, as it enables the support to be made ofrelatively light or thin material without sacrificing strength, and thespiral form of the corrugated groove is the preferable form, as it maybe made deeper than parallel grooves Without weakening the body.

For holding the pencil in proper position for the action of the abrasiveshell thereon the form of Sharpener shown in Figs. l and 2 is providedwith a stationary tubular support or holder E, located just outside theopen end of the shell. The holder E consists of a short tube open atboth ends and preferably made fiaring at its receiving end, and islocated with its central axis parallel With the axis of rotation of theSharpener. The holder is supported on the outer end of an arm D2, whichextends laterally from the adjacent bearing-standard D.

In the use of the device shown in Figs. l and 2 the pencil is insertedthrough the holder E into the interior of the shell A with its end incontact With the abrasive surface thereof, and said shell is turned bythe use of the crank, While the pencil is turned by the hand to bringall sides of its point into position to be acted on by the abrasivesurface of the shell.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the abrasive shell A is made cylindrical, andthe support B3 therefor is made of corresponding shape. Moreover, theabrasive surface of the shell A is shown in Figs. 3 and 4 as formed onthe outer surface of said shell, and the support is contained Within theabrasive shell. In this construction also the clearan ce-spaces b3between said abrasive body and its support are parallel and extend in adirection parallel with the axis of the cylindric abrasive shell, andsaid spaces are formed by corrugating the support in the manner shown insaid figures. The operation of this form of the device is substantiallythe same as the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In case a holder beprovided for the pencil, performing the function of the holder E, beforedescribed, said holder will be located at an angle to the axis of theshell A@ In Fig. 5 is shown a form of device in which the abrasive shellis stationary and acts on the pencil by moving the latter around theshell in a path concentric with the axis of the shell, While at the sametime turning the pencil to bring all parts of its point into contactwith the abrasive surface of the shell. In this instance the perforatedabrasive shell A2 is of conical form and is supported Within an annularsupporting-WallB4, which forms With a flat end Wall B5 a cup-shaped bodywhich is either held firmly in the hand or is attached by screws b to abase D2. The wall B5 has a rigid standard F, on the upper end of whichis sWiveled an arm G, carrying at its outer end a tubular pencil-holderG. The pencil in this case is sharpened by revolving the holder G andthe pencil therein and at the same time turning the penciliu the holder.Manifestly in a construction like that shown in Fig. 5 the perforatedmetal abrasive shell may be placed outside of its support and have itsabrasive surface on its outer face, as in the construction shown inFigs. 3 and 4:.

The employment in a pencil-sharpener of a sheet-metal annular shellprovided with perforations and with abrasive prongs or bu rs formed bybending up the metal around the perforations has the important advantageof affording an abrasive means which may be very cheaply and easily madeand which is at the same time durable and effective for its purpose. Theuse of cuttingblades in pencil-sharpeners has been found objectionablebecause of the fact that the grit in the pencil-lead soon dulls theblade and renders it useless. The employment of sandpaper isobjectionable, because it soon becomes Worn out, and a file-cut abrasivesurface is expensive to make. A sheet-metal shell made as described hasthe advantage over all of the devices described of being very cheaplymade and at the same time of being efficient in action and possessingample durability.

The employment in connection with the sheet-metal shelldcscribed ofanannularsupport for the same, inside or outside which the shell isplaced, has the advantage of enabling sheet metal to be used in theconstruction of the shell, which is so thin that if unsupported it wouldnot be capable of retaining its circular form when in use. Theemployment of such thin sheet metal is required for the best results ina Sharpener `of the kind herein described, for the reason that it wouldnot be practicable to make the prongs or burs on a thicker shell fine orsmall enough to give a suitably-smooth surface on the pencil. By the useof an annular support in addition to the shell the latter may be easilyand cheaply made with closely-spaced small perforations, affording smalland fine burs, While at the same time the thin shell will be properlysupported or held in its circular form While inuse.

I claim as my inventionl. A pencil-Sharpener comprising an annularsheet-metal shell which is perforated and provided with abrasive bursformed by the bending or punching outwardly of the metal around theperforations therein, and a concentric support engaging said shell.

2. A pencil-Sharpener comprising an annular sheet-metal shell, which isperforated and provided With abrasive burs formed by the bending orpunching outwardly of the metal IOO IIO

around the perforations therein, and a com centric annular supportforsaid shell between which and the shell are clearance-spaces.

3. A pencil-Sharpener comprisingan annular sheet-metal shell which isperforated and provided with abrasive burs formed by the bending orpunching outwardly of the metall around the perforations therein, and anannular concentric sheet-metal support engaging said shell and providedWith corrngations to afford clearance-spaces between the same and thesaid shell.

4. A pencil-Sharpener comprising an annular sheet-metal shell which isperforated and provided with abrasive bnrs formed by the ROBERT C.UECKE.

Witnesses:

SAML. RICHARDSON, J. C. BLAKE.

